The Change
by pandoricasbox
Summary: Short drabble about the beginning of the sixth school year for Draco Malfoy. May continue, but not sure.


A soft light reached his face and he slowly gained consciousness. The dull ache in his back made him open his eyes and realize that he was not in his four-poster bed in the Slytherin dungeons, but on the hard leather couch he had found in the Room of Requirement. He rolled over and swiftly threw his legs off the couch. He sighed and cradled his face in his hands, wondering how he was going to survive this year both mentally and physically. The black blur in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned around to face one of his biggest fears. One of the doors of the old, black vanishing cabinets was slightly opened and Draco forced himself to stand and open the door slowly. Once again, the cabinet had remained empty. It still didn't work. Groaning, he kicked one of the antique marble statues that were placed on the left side of the cabinet.

"Argh!" Draco shook his foot and squeezed his eyes together and asked himself silently why he always had to be so stupid and rash in his actions when he was angry.

He turned his back to the cabinet and the stupid statue and checked the watch that decorated his left wrist, his grandfather Abraxis Malfoy's old watch. He quickly got his wand from his right sleeve and tapped the watch thrice.

"Good morning mister Malfoy," the watch chirped in a sweet voice, "you have thirty minutes until breakfast and your first class is Transfiguration!"

Draco nodded quickly and tapped the watch once before giving the vanishing cabinet one last look. He shook his head, tired from the mess he had gotten himself in and turned around to leave the Room of Requirement. While he walked, he caught his reflection in an old and dusty mirror and he chuckled at himself, despite how he looked. His soft, silver hair had gotten longer over the summer break but he hadn't had the time or worries to go to the hairdresser. He now had a sort of fringe, his blonde locks falling in his eyes, giving him a mysterious look. Draco chuckled once while moving his hand to push the hair from his face. He looked at himself, a bit shocked, and quickly let his hair fall back into his eyes. The resemblance to his father was too big. He would never let his hair grow in a way he would look too much like his father. At least the "I-don't-care-if-I-need-a-haircut-look" gave him his own personality, not his slimy father's who was currently rotting away in Azkaban prison. Exactly what he deserved, of course.

He checked his watch again, cursing softly when he noticed that he had already spent five minutes looking at himself in a dusty mirror, and quickly made his way to the Slytherin dungeons. Thankfully, no one was out in the halls yet, except for a cluster of first-year Hufflepuff girls who were trying to find their way from the first floor to the Great Hall.

Draco sighed and stalked past them, making it to his private room only eight minutes after leaving the Room of Requirement. He stripped his cloak and robes from his body and opened the door to his own, private bathroom. He owned a bath the size of a small swimming pool, very similar to the one in the Prefect's Bathroom. With a flick of his wand, his favourite taps opened filled the bath quickly. He threw his boxers over his shoulder and sank into the hot, bubbly bath while closing his eyes. The past weeks, this was truly the one way he could relax. He let his mind drift away from the heavy task the Dark Lord had given him and sunk deeper into the bath to rinse his hair. When he emerged from the water his watch squeaked at him.

"Mister Malfoy, breakfast shall begin in five minutes!"

Cursing under his breath, Draco got out of the bath and grabbed his wand from the floor and performed a quick drying spell. He summoned a new set of robed and quickly changed into them. He brushed his teeth and checked his hair if it still fell in the careless way he had woken up with this morning and smiled contently when the hair fell over his eyebrows.

He strode confidently through the common room and made his way to the Great Hall alone; ignoring the looks Blaise and Pansy gave him.


End file.
